The Sin Bin
by Sintari
Summary: I needed a place to store them so here it is my drabble collection! First, a Sandaime pov drabble concerning Orochimaru. Second, a short piece about Hinata. Third, a short Naruto pov sidefic to Rosemary for Remembrance. Fourth, a KakaSaku oddity.
1. The Price

_I've become fascinated by drabbles lately, so I've created this story to store my various attempts. I'm trying to tighten up my writing style by conveying ideas, themes or moments in time in 100 word snippets. Please bear with me!_

_**Title: The Price**_

_**Author: Sintari**_

_**Spoilers: Approx. Episodes 75-79**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**_

_My first one (and it took me a shamefully long time to perfect the word choice and order) is from Sandaime's point of view as he fought Orochimaru for the last time. The few seconds of animation where Sandaime is closing his eyes for the final time and all of a sudden the old, crazed Orochimaru before him transforms into a young, scared boy haunt me as one of the angstiest points in the anime. I've tried to capture it in exactly 100 words. Any feedback on whether I've succeeded or not would be gratefully accepted. _

**The Price**

I won't let go.

Some say a man is born with the potential for evil inside him. Some say it is shaped. I never claimed to be wise, but I am certain of one thing - we pay and pay for our sins.

When we found the bodies in the lab, I saw clearly for the first time the man that the boy had become.

And as I stand prepared to die, I see clearly for the first time the boy the man has been.

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

I am sorry.

But I won't let go.


	2. Heart Failure

_Title: Heart Failure_

_Author: Sintari_

_Words: 211_

Hinata measured each step, careful to grip the edges of the tea tray firmly. She didn't need another harsh command from her father - one that hadn't even been directed at her, no less - to cause her to drop the cups again.

But no one paid attention to the quiet girl who merely fetched the tea. Her father stood in the courtyard, presiding over a sparring match between Hanabi and Neji. All had their Byakugan activated. They fought in silence until Hiashi grunted his approval when Neji scored a hit on Hanabi and closed two tenketsu in one strike of Gentle Fists.

Hinata merely stood on the edge of the porch until someone noticed her.

The sparring ended presently and her father turned around. He had been smiling at Hanabi and Neji's progress, but the expression faded from his face when he saw her.

"Ah, the tea," he said tonelessly and all three of the more talented Hyuga took a cup.

When they were finished with their short break, Hiashi began training Neji and Hanabi again. Hinata carried the empty mugs back to the kitchen. As she left, she heard Hiashi instructing Hanabi on forcing chakra into an opponent's heart until it simply stopped beating.

Yes, Hinata thought, her father was very good at that particular technique.

END


	3. Where Love Goes

Title: Where Love Goes 

**Author: Sintari**

**Rating: K**

**A/N: A side-drabble to Rosemary for Remembrance. Unfortunately, it probably won't make sense read as a stand-alone.**

**Summary: Unfortunately, Naruto knows where love goes.**

Where does love go?

It's in the bottom of your tea cup on August afternoons and in the perfect arc of your kunai in the millisecond before it strikes true. It's in the snap of cartilage as your opponent's nose gives way.

Love lives in the long straight slash carved into a hitai-ate that you can't bring yourself to throw away. It's a rag in your kunai pouch stiff with his blood.

It's in the curve of your wife's lip as she smiles sleepily up at you, and it sounds rhythmically, magnified a thousand times as the heartbeat of your unborn child. It's in the bitter aftertaste of the whiskey that rocks you to sleep at night.

Love is in the corner of your eye when you're not looking and in your bed when you're not sleeping.

That's where love goes.

Love never goes.


	4. Downfall

_Title: Downfall_

_Author: Sintari_

_Words: 100_

_Rating/Warnings: M, gray area of loli so be warned  
_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

Kakashi knows she doesn't do it because she's had a crush on him for years. Or because she knows his fingers itch to touch her tiny breasts. She doesn't do it because she knows this is the final way his soul could be corrupted.

She purposely leaves her window shade open because she's fifteen. She stands very still in the lamplight then slips her shirt over her head because she can. Her lips are parted because of the things it makes him imagine. Her eyes meet his because she knows what she's doing.

He enters because they are already lost.


	5. Perfect Memory

_Title: Perfect Memory  
By: Sintari  
Words: 100  
A/N: Neji POV. Don't own Naruto._

Age twenty-one is a memory now. Honor is an ideal, unattainable as smoke in a clenched fist. Advanced arthritis in my left hip will prevent me from ever again demonstrating a perfect kaiten. And this morning I watched my four year old grand-niece smile uncertainly up at the Head of Hyuga before he took her pudgy hand and lead her into the shrine to receive her jinjutsu.

My twenty-one year old self would look back on this life and judge it lacking. I know better.

Because once, when I was just a child really, I kissed someone and meant it.


	6. The Price of Revenge

Title: The Price of Revenge

Author: Sintari

Rating: K

Words: 100

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Since he was seven, Sasuke has seen his brother on every target he's aimed it. Glimpsed him from the corner of his eye in every shadow he's ever boldly walked past.

Itachi is in the red and black whorl of a bloody shuriken, and the shape of the clouds when Sasuke bothers to look up.

Even now he's here, with Orochimaru breathing evenly in the next room, as Sasuke stands before the bathroom mirror wearily regarding the distinct lines that have appeared beneath his own eyes.

Sasuke sees Itachi's face everywhere.

It's his mother's that he can no longer remember.


End file.
